Recipe: Rhubarb Brown Butter Almond Cake

Serves 6 3/4 pound butter (to reduce to 6 ounces)

1 cup almond flour

1 2/3 cup powdered sugar

½ cup all-purpose flour

5 1/3 ounces egg whites (5 large eggs)

1 pound rhubarb, chopped into ¼ inch pieces

A little apricot jam, melted and brushed on as a glaze

1. Brown the butter. (Stay close to the stove while it is browning. It burns easily. You want it golden brown.) Strain it and discard the solids left in the pan and strainer. Let the butter cool, but don't let it harden.

2. Sift the dry ingredients together. Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites, mixing well. Fold in the brown butter. Refrigerate at least one hour or as long as a week.

3. Chef David Jue used individual ring molds to bake the cakes for the presidential dinner, pouring ½ cup batter into each mold. Sprinkle about two ounces or ½ cup of the finely chopped rhubarb pieces on top. Lightly push them into the batter. Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until light brown. Jue suggests home cooks bake the cake in a loaf pan, like a banana bread. If you choose that option, expect it to take 30 minutes to bake.

4. Let rest. When cool, brush lightly with a glaze made of melted apricot jam.

From pastry chef David Jue